TP - Thinking Like An Athlete, Empty Calendars & Finding Solutions
Hello my friend,
I’m thinking like an athlete.
The average professional athlete spends most of his or her time practicing and only a small percentage - several hours a day, at most - actually competing.
The typical business executive or employee, by contrast, devotes almost no time to training and must perform on demand anywhere between eight, ten or 12 hours a day, or more.
It is all too easy to be attached to a “more is more” mindset.
Feeling that by not putting in countless hours of work that we will fall behind or are not doing enough.
That by continuing to work only then will we ensure that we are getting everything done.
This comes at a heavy price.
Our performance and our health pay the bill.
“Being busy is a form of laziness. Lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.” - Tim Ferriss
Enough becomes never enough.
The problem is the busier we act and the more we try to fit in, the more our mind becomes attached to doing more.
It creates hectic-ness. It feels like we should always be doing more.
Our mind creates a constant feeling of urgency.
This habit leads to stress, overwhelm, burnout and ultimately poor performance.
When we do finally allow ourselves (or are forced) to switch off it feels like there remains a heavy weight that we cannot put down.
Let’s take weightlifting.
This involves stressing a muscle to the point where its fibers literally start to break down. Given an adequate period of recovery (typically at least 48 hours), the muscle will not only heal, it will grow stronger. But persist in stressing the muscle without rest and the result will be acute and chronic damage.
Yet the corporate executive passes endless hours lifting with minimal or no recovery time.
In our hectic society we can be made to feel bad for doing less. (Read why we shouldn’t care what others think in this edition, read here )
For leaving the office early, for working less hours, taking extended breaks, asking for time off, for prioritising rest. Others may question it.
Yet it’s during these times where we do our most important work.
An athlete puts in hard focused attention for brief periods of time.
Then they rest, recover, reflect, realign and repeat.
All the benefits and development happen during this period.
The athlete creates outstanding performance through prolonged and quality rest.
They prioritise quality and balanced nutrition alongside a consistent sleep schedule.
They create a healthy environment by putting themselves around the right people.
They prioritise high performance not from doing more but by doing less.
This can apply to all of us.
How can you think more like an athlete?
Things I’m learning
Digging ourselves a hole.
“Everyone is digging deeper into their own trench and rarely standing up to look in the next trench over, even though the solution to their problem happens to reside there.” - David Epstein
You’re not the only one.
“Sometimes we don’t need advice. Sometimes we just need to hear we’re not the only one.” - Matthew Mcconaughey
Having an empty calendar.
“Ever seen Warren Buffett’s calendar? It’s mostly blank. “Yeah, well, he’s a billionaire,” you might say. If you ask him, though, he’ll tell you that his time isn’t free because he’s rich; he’s rich because he made time for what mattered to him.” - Chase Jarvis
Question
When are you at your best? How can you create more opportunities to be so?
That’s all for this week.
Thank you as ever for reading.
With Love, Nick x